J said:
Im getting a mac with OS X ( as a gift ) and would like
to know how to network them so I can share internet and
files and printer/scanner
Can anybody send me instructions or point to a website ?
thanks JWiggle
Pretty much an open ended question. Suggest you start with looking at
google, e.g. search for "macintosh networking xp"
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=macintosh+xp+networking&spell=1
In general you need to network them together, and for that you need a
hub or switch, or use a cross over cable.
My recommendation is that you buy a specialised router/firewall box,
e.g. from Linksys, Netgear, etc. to be the "hub" and provide internet
firewall for both machines.
You'll need to setup the networking software on both machines.
One of the machine will establish network connection, and then be the
"gateway" to the internet.
I understand that OS X provides "Samba" software to do network file and
printer sharing. You'll be able to find documentation on internet for
how to connect XP to a Samba-based server (running on the Mac). Surely
there will be software (Samba or other) on the Mac to connect to the XP.
Read about setting up a network in XP in "help". Similar documentation
in electronic form is surely available on the Mac.
You'll likely not be able to or want to share the scanner. Hard to do
and doesn't make much sense anyway since you have to operate it. Run it
on the machine on which it works now, just put the created files on
either machine once you have the network setup.
You'll probably find software on the Mac to access the XP's desktop. If
not, you can obtain "rdesktop" program which does this very nicely. You
can also get software on the XP to access the Mac direction
(telnet--included with XP, ssh, PuTTY, etc.) and even access the desktop
using some X-windows software, e.g. CygWin...
